A Field Guide to Street Tiles and Other Literal Street Art of the Queen City
What follows is a timeline and record of my personal intersection with the topic of “street tiles.” Given the complex nature of these things—and all the documentation I’ve undertaken—I felt it was time to truly organize this information and I elected to do it in a manner similar to the internet I grew up reading.
5. The Medium is the Message
“It was bad enough that my alleyway already looked like the one where Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed, but now it’d also taken on the villainous vibes of Mr. Freeze’s lair—the one seen in the 1997 blockbuster known as Batman & Robin and home to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pun-flinging version of the character.”
4. FISH LOGS Tiles
In Cincinnati's Northside neighborhood, street tiles have begun to appear. Similar to their “Toynbee” and “House of Hades” cousins, this new variant references a former neighborhood bar's signature dish.
3. House of Hades Returns
Six years after I initially investigated the mysterious “Toynbee” and “House of Hades” tiles, new ones began to emerge in Cincinnati’s streets.
2. Toynbee/House of Hades Tiles: An Update
When one of Cincinnati’s “House of Hades”street tiles seemed marked for death—not all ended up being lost.
Frames from Sunday September 10, 2017
The corner of 4th/Vine in Downtown Cincinnati and Scott/4th in Covington. Trying to chase some light on a Sunday evening and looking back into street photography while wandering on the bike. Felt like the only people around were either going to/at the riverfront park or disappointed, drunken Bengals fans wallowing about.
1. Toynbee Tiles and House of Hades
In search of cryptic messages embedded within the streets—I waited for traffic to subside, jogged out to the middle of the road and knelt down while an idling cab driver eyed me suspiciously.